Dell Developing Pocket-Sized Device — Engineers at Dell Inc. have been developing a pocket-sized device for tapping into the Internet, people familiar with the company's plans said. — The gadget uses Google Inc.'s Android software, these people said. Two people who said they saw early …

Dell Developing MID (Mobile Internet Disaster) — The consumer electronics wizards at Dell who brought us the now defunct DJ Ditty MP3 player and the Axim handheld are hard at work on another gadget, a mobile Internet device. — Sources tell The Wall Street Journal that the MID uses an ARM-based chip …

Adobe shuts down for a week — Adobe Systems has shut down its North American operations for the week, as part of a cost-cutting effort that the company said it will repeat at least once more this year. — The San Jose software company, which makes editing, graphic design and web development tools …

China Bans Gold Farming — Trading virtual goods for real money has been banned in China, putting hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity at risk. — In addition to its ongoing crackdown on Internet porn, the Chinese government has declared that virtual currency cannot be traded for real goods or services.

The Pirate Bay Sold To Software Company, Goes Legal — Software company Global Gaming Factory X (GGF) says it is in the process of acquiring The Pirate Bay and file-sharing technology company Peerialism. GGF claims to have the biggest network of internet cafés and gaming centers in the world.

Windows 7 preorder a hit—on Amazon — Amazon has been taking quite a number of early orders for Windows 7. The $49 preorder version of Windows 7 Home Premium is now the top seller not just among software products, but among all electronics items at the online retailer.

Sneak Peek: What's On Tap for Firefox in 2010 — It has been just shy of two weeks since the first release candidate of Firefox 3.5 became available for download, and reports say that the latest version of Firefox should go official tomorrow. Yet already, the Mozilla team is wasting …

Dear Malcolm: Why So Threatened? — It's now clear that the bane of my next year will be questions about the future of the newspaper industry from journalists. I don't blame them—newspapers are indeed one of the industries most affected by Free (although that's just one manifestation …

Microsoft's strange new ads for Internet Explorer — Trailing a series of failed and questionable commercials, Microsoft has launched an experimental new advertising campaign. Can Superman, puke jokes, and lolcats make IE cool again? — The new campaign features actor Dean Cain …

Microsoft to charge Europeans double for Windows 7 — Prices new OS at 41% to 100% more than in the U.S., but leaves out browser — Computerworld - European customers will pay up to twice as much for Windows 7 compared to U.S. users, even though the new operating system will ship without a browser in Europe, according to Microsoft.

Battery Issues Likely Cause of iPhone 3GS Overheating — Just a week after the release of Apple's new iPhone, a few owners have complained about the handset's high temperatures, which in some cases are high enough to start browning the white plastic on the back of the phone.

Obama CIO To Unveil Transparency Tool — On Tuesday, White House Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra and White House New Media Director Macon Phillips will unveil an Internet-based interactive dashboard that will make available in a single location details about every major information …

Facebook Selects New CFO: Former Genentech Exec Ebersman — Facebook picked a new CFO quietly, after its cloddish public parting with longtime top financial exec Gideon Yu earlier this year. — Facebook said in late March it was looking for a CFO with “public company experience,” …

Companies File Trademarks for New Top Level Domain Names — Filings unlikely to give a leg up in application process. — Companies are filing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for service marks related to new TLDs. For example, Top Level Domain Holdings, Ltd (AIM: TLDH) …

City Invites Software Developers to Crunch Big Data Sets — In an effort to improve government transparency and accountability and stimulate development of the digital media industry, New York City is inviting software developers and related professionals this fall to develop applications …

Plans to raise £1bn for start-up funding — The ailing venture capital industry received a shot in the arm as the government unveiled plans to commit £150m to a vehicle to bridge a funding gap for technology start-ups. — The new fund of funds would invite private sector investors …

PC Makers Comply With China's ‘Green Dam’ Edict — SAN FRANCISCO -(Dow Jones)- Two major computer makers indicate that each will comply with a Chinese law requiring all computers shipped to the country include a particular type of web-filtering software. — The recent moves by Acer Inc. …

Foes No More, Ad Agencies Unite With Internet Firms — CANNES, France — Advertising agencies and Internet companies once viewed each other as foes, but are now coming together to harness the potential for online advertising. Like many other segments, online ad spending has slowed …

How the Mafia conquered social networks — Not so long ago, the faces of gaming on social networks were those of zombies, vampires, and cuddly virtual pets. Now it's more along the lines of Michael Corleone or Tony Soprano. — You've probably seen it in your news feed …

VCs say industry is ‘broken’ — The venture industry is broken. At least that's what the majority of venture capitalists think, according to a survey from executive search firm Polachi. PeHub.com has the details, noting that 52.9 percent of the VC respondents called the industry “broken …

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